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Rachel Maddow Hints That Anderson Cooper Should Come Out

In an interview with The Guardian, Rachel Maddow seems to insist that if Anderson Cooper is gay – like he’s been widely rumored to be – he has a responsibility to publicly disclose that. While Maddow doesn’t name Cooper specifically, as Business Insider points out, it’s obvious she is thinking of him in her comments to The Guardian:

Maddow is one of the very few gay news anchors in America – well, one of the very few openly gay news anchors. Does she feel frustration towards an equally well-known news presenter who is widely assumed to be gay but has never come out? For the first time, Maddow pauses: ‘I’m sure other people in the business have considered reasons why they’re doing what they’re doing, but I do think that if you’re gay you have a responsibility to come out,’ she says carefully.

While we can see Maddow’s point, we don’t agree with her. Just because Maddow enjoys being an icon in the gay community doesn’t mean Cooper has to follow the same path. If Cooper is gay and has no interest in talking about it, that’s his right. It’s his life, Maddow should stay out of it.

UPDATE:

Maddow just posted a response to this story on her blog. She explains, “I did not in my interview with The Guardian say anything about or to Mr. Cooper, nor would I. Although criticism of Mr. Cooper was intimated by The Guardian and picked up everywhere — I did not make that criticism in the interview, nor did I imply it, nor is it what I believe.”